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A streetcar is desired in downtown LA

The effort to bring a streetcar back to downtown Los Angeles passed another hurdle this week. The LA City Council voted 13-0 to approve a 3.8-mile route that includes Grand Park, the Convention Center, the Fashion District, and theaters and shops along Broadway.

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The effort to bring a streetcar back to downtown Los Angeles passed another hurdle this week. The LA City Council voted 13-0 to approve a 3.8-mile route that includes Grand Park, the Convention Center, the Fashion District, and theaters and shops along Broadway. The downtown streetcar could cost $282 million to build, though that number is still being revised. Downtown City Councilman José Huizar is leading the effort, and hopes to pay for it through private donations, federal grants and sales tax revenue from Measures R and M, the new sales tax voters approved earlier this month. Construction of the line would begin in 2018 and finish in 2020.